Post-2015 Development ‘Zero’ Goals Should Include ‘2030 Targets’

May 15, 2013

In the Center for Global Development blog, Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the center, writes about the prospect of including “zero” goals in the post-2015 development agenda, saying, “In short, the proposed zero goals fall somewhere messily in between targets (which should be realistic) and ideals (which should be idealistic).” He continues, “Given that 2030 appears to be a widely agreed end-point, the ‘zero’ goals all have to be shoe-horned to fit that time frame. So even if (perhaps) getting to three percent $1.25/day poverty by 2030 is plausible and (maybe) two percent under-five mortality might be considered an acceptable floor, $1.25 is too low an ambition for any income floor and 2030 is implausibly soon for every country to reach two percent under five mortality.” Kenny adds, “Perhaps these [goals] could be presented alongside 2030 targets (three percent under $1.25 a day by 2030). That way, one goal doesn’t have to do the work of two very different concepts” (5/14).